Philly company buys historic Huber Breaker

ASHLEY, Pa.—A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of a long-shuttered coal breaker in northeastern Pennsylvania that preservationists have been trying to save for decades.

A Philadelphia company's $1.2 million bid was approved Thursday for the purchase of the Huber Breaker in Ashley, Luzerne County.

Jonathan Comitz, an attorney for the buyer, Paselo Logistics LLC, declined to comment on the firm's plans for the Ashley property.

Local preservationists say it's one of the country's last anthracite coal breakers and they've long sought to preserve the structure and perhaps turn it into a coal mining museum. They say it's likely the massive structure now will be demolished and sold for scrap.

Opened in 1939, the mine and breaker employed 1,700 people at its peak, supplying coal throughout the eastern U.S.